Safety-valve.



No. 813,145. I PATENTED FEB. 20, 1906.

0. J. FANCHER.

SAFETY VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED MARS, 1905,

Wibm'woao M% auwnm Qg UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES JAMES FANCHER, OF WEST GRANBY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THESIMPLEX MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OFCONNECTICUT.

SAFETY-VALVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 20, 1906.

Application filed March 9, 1905. Serial No. 249,220.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES JAMES FAN- CHER, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and a resident of West Granby, in the Althoughprimarily intended to be used with range-boilers, the device may beemployed in connection with steam-boilers and the like to serve as amedium of safety in case the pressure within the boiler or otherreceptacle exceeds a certain predetermined limit.

The object of my invention is broadly to provide a safety-valve which isadapted to relieve the pressure in any gas or liquid receptacleas, forexample, in the water-front of a kitchen-range in case the water in theboiler associated with the range or in the connecting-pipes becomesfrozen. In such case the main valve is forced open against theresiliency of the'retaining-spring to an extent sufficient to permitsteam and water to escape from the device, thus relieving the pressurein the water-front and avoiding danger of explosion.

A further object of my invention is to provide against accident if forany reason the main valve fails to operate properly, a secondary orauxiliary valve being provided to close or partially close thethrough-passage for this purpose.

When applied to a steam-boiler, the device serves the same purpose aswhen used in connection with a range-boiler, any excessive pressureopening the main valve and the auxiliary valve closing thethrough-passage in case the main-valve spring becomes weakened orbroken.

Although the main valve yields under high pressure, it is under ordinarycircumstances steam and water tight. I

I attain these objects by the means illustrated in the, accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view of the safety-valve appliedto a pipe by being tapped into the same Fig. 2, a vertical section ofsaid device and the pipe; and Fig. 3 a plan view of the safety-valve.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views. I

The invention consists, essentially, of a casing or body having athrougli-passage therein, a valve-seat being provided around the upperor outer end of said passage, and another valve-seat at the lower orinner end thereof, a main valve mounted on said body, a spring adaptedto normally hold said valve in place on its seat, and an auxiliary valvebelow the body, suitably connected with the main valve, there beingenough clearance between the last-mentioned valve and the inner end ofthe body to permit the normal operation of the main valve to take place.

In the drawings, a represents the casing or body, which is provided withupwardly or outwardly extending lateral arms I) and b. A through-passagec is formed in the body a, as is also an annular groove (1 around theouter end of said passage. A packing-ring e in the groove d forms a seatfor the main valve At the inner end of the passage 0 is a-valve-seat g.A transverse hole h is out in the arm I) and a transverse notch 77/ inthe arm I), said notch opening through one edge of the arm I). The innerend of the body a is tapped into a pipe '5, which latter may be assumedto be one of the connections between a range and its associated boiler,the body being attached to the pipe close to the range. The valve f iscentered and guided on the body a by guides j, rising from the top ofsaid body outside of the packing-ring e.

The main valve f is provided on the bottom with an annular flange f,adapted to rest on the packing-ring, and the top of said valve isrecessed, as shown at f in Fig. 2. A spindle 7c has its upper endscrewed into the valve f and is provided at its lower end with what istermed the auxiliary valve Z. The valve 1 is suspended some distance below the seat 9 when the valve f is seated on the ring 0, and the spindle7c is so small as not to take up too much room in the passage 0. Acoiled spring m, provided with laterallyextending arms, is adapted tohave its coil rest in the recess f in the valve f, while one of its armsengages the arm I) of the body and the other engages the arm I), theends of the two spring-arms entering the hole It and the notch h,respectively. The spring m should have sufficient resistance to hold thevalve f on its seat under any ordinary pressure from within; but itshould not be so strong as to overcome such pressure when the samebecomes great enough to approach the dangerline or, in other words, toburst the pipe 'L or any of its connections. For ordinary purposes inrange-boiler use the spring m should be capable of resisting about onehundred pounds pressure to the square inch.

In practice while hot water (or steam) circulates freely in the pipe 41there is no escape for the same by way of the safety-valve, since theouter or upper end of the passage 0 is tightly closed by the valve f;but if the hot water (or steam) in said pipe be held back from anycause, as in the event that the contents of the pipe become frozenbetween the safety-valve and the boiler, the accumulating pressureimpinging, so to speak, against the inner face or bottom of said valve flifts the valve against the resiliency of the spring m from thepacking-ring 6 before the point at which the pipe i would be ruptured isreached, and such opening of the valve permits a sufficient amount ofsteam and water to escape to relieve the excessive pressure in the pipeand remove all danger of explosion. The spring m returns the valve f toits seat and closes the passage 0 as soon as the excessive pressure isrelieved, and the safety-valve is again in condition for a repetition ofthe operation just described, so that it will be seen that the devicecan be used for an indefinite length of time without repair or requiringthe replacing of any of its members. During the opening of the valve Zf,as above explained, the auxiliary valve approaches its seat 9, but at notime comes near enough thereto to interfere with the escape of steam andwater from the pipe i, and the arrangement of parts is such that all therelief necessary may be had through the passage 0 by the raising of themain valve without closing the inner end of said passage with saidauxiliary valve. Should the spring m, however, lose its temper or becomebroken, the pressure within the pipe 0) will immediately raise both themain and auxiliary valves until the latter seats itself at g, andthereby cuts off the escape of water and steam from said pipe, thuspreventing damage which might otherwise be done if the main valve wereaccidentally opened and the contents of the piped permitted to flowfreely through the passage c. The valve Z may be made to fit the seat gso closely as to completely close the passage c, or merely a loose fitmay be provided, so that there shall be some escape of water or waterand steam from the pipe 01, which will give warning of the impairment orbreakage of the spring. It is very rarely'that the serv ices of theauxiliary valve will. be required; but the same is provided in order toenhance the usefulness and value of the device and add to the safety ofthe same. It will be understood that the auxiliary valve plays noimportant part in relieving excessive pressure, the main valve and itsspring being all that are required for this purpose, but that saidauxiliary valve serves merely in the capacity of a safety-valve for saidmain valve.

It should be noted that my construction obviates any liability orpossibility of the main valve becoming stuck or wedged into place in anyway, since said valve is free to move up and down between the guides j,as permitted by the spring m, there being no parts to bind the valve orprevent the free working thereof.

The spring m is the only member of my device which is at all liable tobecome seriously injured, (and that rarely,) and when such is the caseit is simply necessary to replace the old spring with a new one, whichcan easily be done, owing to the presence of the hole h and the notch hin the arms I) and b of the body a.

The function of the safety-valve is the same whether used for hot wateror steam.

Such changes in shape, size, construction, and arrangement of parts asfall within the scope of my claims may be made without departing fromthe nature of my invention.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A device of the class specified, consisting of a body having athrough-passage therein, a valve adapted to normally close one end ofsaid passage, a spring arranged crosswise of and in engagement with saidvalve and having lateral engagement with said body, said spring beingadapted to normally retain the valve in its closed position, and meansof connection between the spring and valve to prevent the latter fromrotating or turning.

2. The combination, in a device of the class specified, with a bodhaving a through-passage therein, of a va ve, and a coiled springprovided with laterallyextending arms adapted to engage said body whilethe coil engages said valve to normally retain it in its closed positionat one end of said passage.

3. The combination, in a device of the class specified, with a bodyhaving a through-passage therein and provided with upwardly-extendingarms, of a valve, and a coiled spring having laterally-extending armsadapted to ICC engage the arms of the body while the coil engages saidvalve to normally retain it in its closed position at one end of saidpassage.

4. The combination, in a device of the class specified, with a bodyhaving a through-passage therein, of a valve recessed at the top,

' and a coiled spring having laterallyextending arms adapted to engagesaid body while the coil is received into the recess in said valve toprevent the valve from turning and to normally retain the same in itsclosed position at one end of said passage.

5. The combination, in a device of the class specified, with a bodyhaving a through-passage therein and a valve-seat at each end of saidpassage and provided with upwardlyextending arms, of a main valve, acoiled spring having laterally-extending arms to ensage therein and avalve-seat at the outer end of said passage and provided withvalveguides rising from said body around said valve-seat, of a valveoperating within and guided by such guides, and a spring connected withthe body to normally retain said valve on the valve-seat, said springbeing arranged crosswise and in engagement with the valve and havinglateral engagement with the body.

7. The combination, in a device of the class specified, of a body havinga through-passage therein and provided with upwardly-extending arms, avalve for one end of said passage, and a coiled spring provided withlaterallyextending arms adapted to be connected With and disconnectedfrom the first-mentioned arms, the coil of said spring bearing against-CHARLES JAMES FANOHER.

Witnesses:

JAMES A. FANOHER, PORTIO M. REED.

